THE WRONG PLACE. NORMAN LEAR GONE  AT AGE 101

Although I was there at the right time, something kept telling me I was at the wrong place.

But I had the address. I knew it was correct because my highly reliable friend had set this opportunity of a lifetime up for me.

Yes,  I’d checked my driving directions more than once. I wasn’t traveling by GPS because we’d never heard of such back then. No matter the fancy homes with manicured lawns or the mile-long driveways stretching behind imposing gates, things just didn’t seem quite right.

“Well, what are you gonna do?” I mumbled to myself as I pulled up the voice box attached to the gate with the correct address artfully crafted into the design.

I activated what became the so-called big chance of a lifetime.

I’m gonna do what I gotta do.  I’m here, now, wrong place OR ?

“Good morning, I’m Shirlee Smith, I have a 9:00 appointment with Mr. Lear -uh, but I suspect I belong at the office and, uh, not here at his home?”

A gentle female voice, Lyn Lear’s, on the other end of the voice machine, buzzed me in.

I was at the wrong place, albeit at the right time.  The gentle wife called her husband’s office at the Paramount studio lot and then sent me on my way with a smile and words of good luck.

Okay, I was a bit late getting to the studio lot. How late? I don’t remember the small details of this encounter.

Did I make a pitch for my Talk About Parenting Cable Show concept to gain Maestro Lear’s favor?

Or did I blubber and throw away this chance to make it in Hollywood that my wonderful friend and supporter, Mildred Goldberger, wife of Marvin Goldberger, Caltech’s President, had set up for me?

Mildred’s to blame for giving me Lear’s home address!

No, It was gracious Lyn’s fault for letting me into their home!

 Norman carries the guilt for this snafu for not recognizing the real talent that sat across the desk from him.

Okay, maybe, just maybe, it was me.  

Me?

It was me for not understanding who I wasn’t ‘and it was me being unprepared for understanding who Norman was.

The giant sitcom creator of The Jeffersons, Maude, All in The Family and, and,…..

And I was at his desk talking about parenting?

This blunder of mine is my mother’s fault because she taught all of her children that the President of the United States was no more important than the garbage collector. However, she neglected to include in her sermons that the garbage collector doesn’t work on foreign policy any more than Lear was in Hollywood to solve the woes of misguided parents.

My cable show “Talk About Parenting with Shirlee Smith’, became syndicated, and ran for 20 years on public access TV taped at the Pasadena Public Access Station.

I don’t need to say, but gonna do it anyway- Never made the big time 

Norman Lear passed away on Dec. 6, at the age of 101. Lyn, his gracious wife of 35 years, sent a statement at the recent 2023 Sentinel Awards. . .He would want us to laugh”

It’s my hope that you found a few chuckles, here,  regarding my being at the wrong place at the right time.

Oh, and Norman did send me a thank you note for the visit.